On 19 June 2014, Prime Minister David Cameron said immediate action was needed to accelerate the development of drugs for dementia.
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Not before time. I fear that the early stages of dementia, resulting in the inability to remember past events clearly, are already setting in amongst some of our political figures. Take Martin McGuinness, for example. On 31 May he stated publicly that he was in prison when Patrick Duffy was "disappeared" and murdered. He has now had to correct that statement as he was actually "between" prison sentences when the kidnapping and murder took place.
http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/regional/mcguinness-acknowledges-memory-lapse-on-murder-date-1-6120249
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Patrick Duffy was abducted from a pub in Buncrana on the 9th of August, 1973, and then shot dead. The IRA in Derry City decided that his body should be "disappeared". The 37 year-old father of seven was secretly buried in a bog outside Buncrana, his corpse being covered in lime to presumably prevent it being easily discovered as a result of decomposition.
During the fortnight after his murder there was uproar in Derry. Opposition to his disappearance came from the public, local supporters and members of the Republican movement in the city, and by Derry internees in Long Kesh prison. What outraged the internees about the disappearance was the fact that the IRA had committed a gross human rights abuse by denying the Duffy family’s right to habeas corpus. The family could have a wake - but they didn't have a body to mourn.
Despite these calls for the return of Patrick Duffy’s body the IRA refused to release the remains and on 17 August placed a notice in a local newspaper stating that Duffy had been shot dead for being a police informer. They kept his body hidden until 24 August, when local resentment forced them into a volte face. That night Patrick Duffy’s body was left in a coffin placed inside an estate car on the Buncrana Road.
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Then on 18 June 2014, Peter Hain appeared in front of the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee to face some tough questioning with regard to the "on the runs" administrative scheme.
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/hain-was-told-about-downey-case-ni-committee-hears-1.1837312
Earlier this year the prosecution case against John Downey, a suspect in the Hyde Park bombing, collapsed when it turned out he was in possession of an "on the runs" letter. In a witness statement for Mr Justice Sweeney at the Old Bailey case, Mr Hain, who served in Northern Ireland between 2005 and 2007, said he first became aware that Downey had got a letter when he was approached last year by Mr Downey’s solicitor, Gareth Peirce.
At the NIAC this week, Ian Paisley Jr pressed Peter Hain on his knowledge about Downey. Hain said until the contact with Downey's solicitor last year leading up to the Old Bailey case he had "never heard of him". Paisley asked him if as Secretary of State he would read letters sent to him by the Attorney General. Hain said "I would think so", stating it was very unusual for the Attorney General to write to a Secretary of State. Paisley then referred to a letter the AG had sent to Peter Hain, dated 22 February 2006 and setting out clearly that John Downey was suspected of serious crimes. Hain said he could not recall seeing this letter.
Mr Paisley accused Mr Hain of “inadvertently perjuring” himself before Mr Justice Sweeney - a charge which led to angry demands from Mr Hain that the allegation be withdrawn.
It also emerged that the decision to include Mr Downey's name in the On the Runs scheme was taken on Mr Hain's last day as Secretary of State in June 2007. He said he was not aware of this. The letters do not, of course, come from the Secretary of State's office but through the police service of Northern Ireland.
Mr Hain also told the Committee that Sinn Fein MPs never lobbied him on behalf of individuals to be included in the scheme.
The whole interview with Peter Hain is still available via the Houses of Parliament website - Northern Ireland Affairs Committee. For anyone really interested in seeing our MP "live" as it were, I'd recommend it. He did not look a happy bunny!
With regard to the "on the runs" I am really looking forward to seeing both the report of the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee and the report of the judicial inquiry held by Lady Justice Hallett, which was held "in camera". The innocent victims and families of victims in Northern Ireland and mainland Britain deserve to know the truth behind this matter. The full story of the role of politicians, civil servants and the police needs to come out, no matter which reputations are tarnished.
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But coming back to the dementia issue again, above we have two senior serving politicians, both deeply involved in the Northern Ireland peace process, yet both being unable to recall seemingly key events, all in the space of a couple of weeks. Get that drugs research going, Cameron, before Gerry Adams forgets he was never in the IRA.
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